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Excalibur
The alien menace that nearly wiped out all life in allied space has returned, and only disgraced Captain Marek Albion knows it.
He and the crew of the Excalibur, an older generation alien craft found abandoned in an asteroid field, stumble across a plot by the bugs to seek vengeance for their earlier defeat. With no help from the military, Albion must track down the invaders and stop them before their destructive plan hatches and plunges all of humanity into a war it cannot win.
He and the crew of the Excalibur, an older generation alien craft found abandoned in an asteroid field, stumble across a plot by the bugs to seek vengeance for their earlier defeat. With no help from the military, Albion must track down the invaders and stop them before their destructive plan hatches and plunges all of humanity into a war it cannot win.
275 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 15, 2017
17 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Tim Marquitz
109 books215 followersTim Marquitz is the author of the Demon Squad series, The Enemy of My Enemy series (Kurtherian Gambit) along with Michael Anderle, the Blood War Trilogy, co-author of the Dead West series, as well as several standalone books, and numerous anthology appearances alongside the biggest names in fantasy and horror. Tim also collaborated on Memoirs of a MACHINE, the story of MMA pioneer John Machine Lober.
"Horror becomes art when it flows from the pen of Tim Marquitz." ~ Bobby D. Whitney - BookWenches
"Witty, sarcastic and hilarious." Michelle - Publishers Weekly
"Horror becomes art when it flows from the pen of Tim Marquitz." ~ Bobby D. Whitney - BookWenches
"Witty, sarcastic and hilarious." Michelle - Publishers Weekly
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 28, 2017
I am a huge fan of Tim Marquitz and his works ranging from Demon Squad to the Blood War Trilogy to the Witchbane. The majority of his books tend to be of the fantasy persuasion, though so it's interesting to see him divine into the world of science fiction. Excalibur, though, is a gripping and entertaining science fiction romp which takes you by the seat and sends you on a journey through a whole new universe.
Marek Albion is the captain of the starship Excalibur, which is a warship captured during the last war against the Bugs (Xebedons). He was disohonorably discharged for refusing to obey orders to fire on civilians and has since become a mercenary-for-hire with a heart. When the Xebedons take up the fight against humanity again, it falls to him to investigate just what they're up to again.
I enjoyed this novel a great deal and my only regret is that it felt short despite being a decent 275 pages. This felt more like the first episode or two hour pilot of a series rather than a complete action-adventure romp. I hope Tim Marquitz will continue writing novels set in this universe, though, because it was very entertaining.
Marek Albion is the captain of the starship Excalibur, which is a warship captured during the last war against the Bugs (Xebedons). He was disohonorably discharged for refusing to obey orders to fire on civilians and has since become a mercenary-for-hire with a heart. When the Xebedons take up the fight against humanity again, it falls to him to investigate just what they're up to again.
I enjoyed this novel a great deal and my only regret is that it felt short despite being a decent 275 pages. This felt more like the first episode or two hour pilot of a series rather than a complete action-adventure romp. I hope Tim Marquitz will continue writing novels set in this universe, though, because it was very entertaining.
March 15, 2017
Marek Albion, disgraced Covenant Space Fleet Captain, current captain of the mercenary ship Excalibur, while assisting the Covenant Fleet taking down Scavenger (think pirates), discovers that humanity's old nemesis, the spidery Xebulons, have returned from wherever they went into hiding after Humanity destroyed the Xebulons homeworld in a last ditch effort to avert annihilation. The Xebulon's have been attacking and capturing ships, although it takes getting further into the book to see exactly why a species that never takes prisoners is all of a sudden doing just that. To find out whats going on, Albion and the crew of Excalibur must deal with backstabbing Fleet brass, indifferent politicians and a conspiracy in the Covenant to keep the information the Xebulons are back hidden at all costs. The Captain and crew will risk life and limb to discover whats going on, heading right into the heart of an alien controlled world to discover what is going on, and when they do, they'll wish they didnt. What they discover shakes them to their very core, and could leave them either dead or hunted by both sides! I cant go into further details about the plot without spoling it, but this is seriously good sci fi!
The tech in this book is pretty original, especially the Phase tech, sort of like what Vision from the Avengers does. They come up with creative uses for it.The Aliens are well thought out, although left a bit inscrutible, which is ok in a first in series. The mix of politics and military infighting rang true, as do the character interactions. This story has no long expositions, no Captain Kirk musing monologues. It is a lean, taut thrilling plot, with action and snark throughout! The battle scenes, both in space and groundside are well laid out and beautifully depicted, as I expect from a Tim Marquitz book. The characters all bring something to story, and it will be interesting to see where book two takes this story. All in all, a five star effort!
The tech in this book is pretty original, especially the Phase tech, sort of like what Vision from the Avengers does. They come up with creative uses for it.The Aliens are well thought out, although left a bit inscrutible, which is ok in a first in series. The mix of politics and military infighting rang true, as do the character interactions. This story has no long expositions, no Captain Kirk musing monologues. It is a lean, taut thrilling plot, with action and snark throughout! The battle scenes, both in space and groundside are well laid out and beautifully depicted, as I expect from a Tim Marquitz book. The characters all bring something to story, and it will be interesting to see where book two takes this story. All in all, a five star effort!
June 19, 2017
An okay read
A friend recommended this, so I picked it up. It's okay. If you like space captains in hijacked alien ships blowing the day lights out of aliens, this is the book for you. Me, I wanted something a bit deeper. While this book didn't suit my tastes, it was a decent read.
A friend recommended this, so I picked it up. It's okay. If you like space captains in hijacked alien ships blowing the day lights out of aliens, this is the book for you. Me, I wanted something a bit deeper. While this book didn't suit my tastes, it was a decent read.
March 20, 2017
A solid novel
A solid read that puts together the basics to what could be a very interesting new universe. It's the kind of fun afternoon or weekend read that anyone can can enjoy and I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes the universe from here.
A solid read that puts together the basics to what could be a very interesting new universe. It's the kind of fun afternoon or weekend read that anyone can can enjoy and I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes the universe from here.
April 28, 2017
A first space based novel from Tim and I think this is a genre he should write more!
Tim has created a nice easy to understand and slip into universe where humans are in space, broadly expanding and generally expanding like heck but are recovering from a recent incursion by an alien race who almost broke through. Creating the usual human paranoia and ultra violence response.
We are introduced to the crew of Excalibur which is one of the left behind alien ships crewed by a ragtag collection of people with their Captain Albion. Tims trademark dialogue really works here are the snark, sarcasm, banter and interplay between the characters feels real and authentic for a collection of people travelling through space, ecking out a living in an alien space ship which isn't exactly comfortable for humans.
Without too many spoilers the story is a abduction mystery set in space with politics thrown in for good measure. Once the crew are "commissioned" to investigate on behalf of the govt the story speeds alone with intrigue, incursion, battles and some cracking dialogue.
A bit like a Long Way to a Small Angry planet I really bought into the characters in the crew, I want to know more, where are they from, why are they on the Excalibur? and what is next for the crew?
Top read from a consistently good author. Hopefully this is the first in a new series from Tim.
Tim has created a nice easy to understand and slip into universe where humans are in space, broadly expanding and generally expanding like heck but are recovering from a recent incursion by an alien race who almost broke through. Creating the usual human paranoia and ultra violence response.
We are introduced to the crew of Excalibur which is one of the left behind alien ships crewed by a ragtag collection of people with their Captain Albion. Tims trademark dialogue really works here are the snark, sarcasm, banter and interplay between the characters feels real and authentic for a collection of people travelling through space, ecking out a living in an alien space ship which isn't exactly comfortable for humans.
Without too many spoilers the story is a abduction mystery set in space with politics thrown in for good measure. Once the crew are "commissioned" to investigate on behalf of the govt the story speeds alone with intrigue, incursion, battles and some cracking dialogue.
A bit like a Long Way to a Small Angry planet I really bought into the characters in the crew, I want to know more, where are they from, why are they on the Excalibur? and what is next for the crew?
Top read from a consistently good author. Hopefully this is the first in a new series from Tim.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews